Visa, PayPal Computer Hacker Given 18-Month Sentence in U.K.

By Erik Larson -
Jan 24, 2013

A computer hacker from the online
activism group “Anonymous” was sentenced in Britain to 18
months in jail for conspiring to attack the websites of Visa
Inc. (V), PayPal Inc., MasterCard Inc. (MA) and others.

The prison term was handed down today, according to a clerk
at Southwark Crown Court in London. Christopher Weatherhead was
found guilty in December, while three co-defendants -- Jake
Birchall, Ashley Rhodes and Peter Gibson -- pleaded guilty
earlier to conspiring to impair the operation of computers.

Britain’s Crown Prosecution Service described Weatherhead
in December as a “cyber-criminal who waged a sophisticated and
orchestrated campaign of online attacks” on computer systems.

Gibson was ordered to perform 100 hours community service
and given a six-month suspended sentence for two years, meaning
he faces jail if he offends again during that period. Birchall’s
sentence will be discussed at a hearing scheduled for Feb. 1,
the clerk said. Rhodes’s sentence hadn’t been discussed today,
the clerk said.

The four also targeted the British Recorded Music Industry,
Ministry of Sound and the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry, prosecutors said. The attacks cost the
companies more than 3.5 million pounds ($5.5 million) in extra
staffing, software and sales losses.

U.K. police have been investigating “hacktivist”
collectives Anonymous and LulzSec for conducting denial-of-
service attacks, which flood computer networks with requests for
information until they shut down.